1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical power connector, and in particular to a power connector surface mountable to a circuit board.
2. The Prior Art
The connection of a circuit board to a power supply cable may be achieved by means of an electrical power connector fixed on the circuit board for receiving a mating connector of the power supply cable. Conventionally, the power connector is mounted to the circuit board by means of a through hole technique, namely free ends of conductors of the connector extend through holes formed on the circuit board and are then soldered thereto as seen in FIG. 1 of the attached drawings.
The connector 60 comprises a nonconductive housing 62 having a plurality of conductors 64 arranged therein. Free ends 66 of the conductors 64 extend through holes (not labeled) defined in a circuit board 68 and then solder 70 is applied thereto. The through hole technique renders the connector 60 to be unable to withstand forces acting thereupon when connecting/disconnecting with a mating connector of the power supply cable. Pertinent examples are disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application No. 79208184 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,566. In addition, the housing 62 of the connector 60 is located entirely above the circuit board 68 thereby occupying a significant space on the circuit board which is disadvantageous for devices that require a strict conservation of space, such as notebook computers.
Furthermore, since conductors of a power connector are positioned in a triangle arrangement, the conductors are shaped differently to suit such an arrangement,. Thus, manufacturing costs are increased
It is thus desirable to have an electrical power connector that overcomes the problems discussed above.